He hasn’t declared his candidacy yet, but Texas Governor Rick Perry pulled on his cowboy boots and waded into the presidential area of foreign affairs this week, sending a strongly worded letter to Eric Holder urging the attorney general to investigate violations of U. S. law by organizers of the Gaza flotilla.

According to numerous recent media reports,American citizens and organizations, together with a coalition of violent anti-Israel organizations from other countries, have organized efforts to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip as early as this week. According to those reports, as well as information alleged in a lawsuit recently filed by Dr. Alan J. Bauer and his attorney, Robert J. Tolchin, and additional information provided by Shurat HaDin: at least to of the participating ships – The Audacity of Hope (DL 2894 AF) and The Challenger II (DL 8172 AC) – are registered in Delaware;

The Audacity of Hope? What’s going on here? Is Perry challenging Obama and making a direct play for the Jewish vote, where the president every day seems more vulnerable? Or is the Texas governor expressing genuine concern for Israel at a time when the Jewish state is increasingly subject to many forms of attempted delegitimization, including the flotilla?

In a telephone conversation with PJ Media, longtime Perry adviser David Carney insisted the governor’s support of Israel is not politically motivated and comes from deep feelings for the country Perry developed after several visits. On those visits he met with terror victims, including children, and also with the attorneys at Shurat HaDin (the Israel Law Center). He was particularly impressed by the unique approach of those attorneys, who have successfully found ways to fight terror through the legal system.

In his letter to Holder, the governor specifies the U. S. laws which he thinks are being violated by the American individual and corporate participants in the flotilla:

The acts of funding, supporting, organizing and engaging in these efforts appears to constitute participation in a naval expedition against a people with whom the United States is at peace, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 960; the furnishing of a vessel with the intent that it be employed to commit hostilities against a people with whom the United States is at peace, in violation 18 U. S. C. 962; and the provision of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2339. See, e.g., Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 130 S. Ct. 2705 (2010).

Good point arthooley. The American Jews have been in the tank for the left most of my life… except when they briefly supported Nixon. Do they not see that the left would favor eliminating Israel as a State if they could…. relegating them to Dhimmi Status in the Arab/Muslim world. It would eventually result in a mass slaughter of Jews. I’d like to know what Roger would have to say about the self-hatred that seems so apparent to us American non-Jews.

The U.S. has decided to formally resume contact with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group – which does not recognize Israel – in a move that could further alienate some Jewish voters already skeptical of President Barack Obama, it was reported.

Don’t count *this* Jew with that “in the tank” crowd. One might find some encouragement from the almost 40% vote that went for Reagan in 1980 after Carter showed his hostility toward Israel. Unfortunately, most of this generation’s Jewish voters simply “want to believe”. So it only takes a few words of reassurance from a house Jew like Dennis Ross, a White House insider like Jarret, or a conference call with The One himself to get most of them back in line. Pitiful.

arhooley above has put the finger right on the amazing fact that conservatives have always been the strongest allies of Israel in US politics while American Jewish voters have, since Israel’s foundation, always overwhelmingly supported liberals. There is a Jewish constituency that believes that Obama is correct that the path to peace lies in a return to 1967 borders. They believe this despite the fact that all Israeli land for peace deals have ended in failure. They believe this despite the PLO and Hamas charters.

Maybe the best way to put it would be that constituency believes in suicide and values progressivism over self preservation at all costs. You would have to believe that way to explain the reflex. They are a little like the American Shaker movement of the 19th century, by definition and behavior destined to extinction.

Israelis themselves are not so deluded. Obama has the lowest approval rating of any US President in Israel’s history.

American liberals who are well educated and still totally blinded by their almost religious faith in “liberalism” are hard enough to take, but Jewish American liberals who support the subversion of Isreal are beyond the pale.

I believe for many Jews so-called liberalism (it’s not really liberalism anymore on the left, more like different degrees of Marxism masquerading as liberalism) IS a religion. Liberal Jews got it into their heads that Jewish values can only be represented in leftist policies. There are certainly some things in Judaism and Jewish history and general values that fit in the leftist framework, but there are other things that fit more into the conservative framework. But as long as they believe they can only express Jewish values by voting for the left they see it in a sort of religious context. The majority of Orthodox Jews, though, vote for the Republicans. Someone should remind the lefty Jews that god wasn’t crazy at all about flesh and blood kings, and only appointed one because the people asked him for a king since there was chaos and violence. So where did they get the idea that big government is a Jewish value?

Samizdat – I ask myself that question every day: Why are my co-religionists so willfully blind to whose on the right side of things. I note that one of the commenters on Pajamas Media pointed out that the Republicans have won the Judaism vote, just not the Jewish vote. What the commenter meant was that as you move from less observance of Jewish laws and customs (or as I told Pnina – orthopraxy) to more observance, you will find a shift to voting Republican (if not being Republican). Many (but not all) non-observant Jews simply have lost their connection to Judaism and are on the path to losing their connection to Israel. Insofar as the non-observant Jews seem to have European birth rates while the observant ones have very substantial birth rates, eventually you will see a Republican majority emerge, although truth be told, it will be an increasing share of a shrinking pie.

BTW I think that Republicans truly value Israel. I say that because they are willing to go to bat for Israel even when it gains them no votes with Jews, and I think they do so because they see Israel as a true ally of America and they see Israel as bright star of democracy in an otherwise dark night of dictatorship. (On the last score, Israel is the only country from the Atlantic to India where all of its citizens have civil rights.)

I also ask myself that question every day, and shake my head in despair. But I can only partly agree with your statement: “Many (but not all) non-observant Jews simply have lost their connection to Judaism and are on the path to losing their connection to Israel.”

Sadly, many Jews still firmly committed to Judaism are trying to square the circle. They imagine themselves loyal to Israel, even as they cling to the left, which actively seeks its destruction, while cynically claiming otherwise. Far too many American Jews desperately want to be accepted by those they consider the “better” people, the intellectuals, the progressive, the liberal left. It is a pathetic intellectual servility grounded in denial, and it will lead to disaster, not, I fervently hope, for Israel, but possibly for them.

Prologue – All I can tell you is what I see. I see (observant) parents who are Democrats and whose sons are Republicans, I see a good chunk of the congregation being Republicans, and I see Democrats who concede that he has screwed up and I think will be voting Republican come November 2012. Will it make much of a difference in the total? I think not because observant Jews only comprise 20% of the Jews in America. Let’s play with a few numbers. Assume about 50% of observant Jews voted for Obama in 2008 and that 80% of all Jews voted for Obama. That would mean that of the non-observant Jews about 85% voted for Obama. Now let’s assume that 2/3 of observant Jews vote for the Republican candidate and that double the number of non-observant Jews vote for a Republican. If you do the arithmetic, you find that Obama will still pickup a hefty 68% of the Jewish vote.

Liberal Jews are to Judaism as Michael Pfleger and Jim Wallis are to Catholicism and Christianity. They have long abandoned the Judeo-Christian ethic (which is what this nation was founded on) for “social justice.” That’s my take on it in a nutshell.

Best to read Norman Podhoretz’s tome “Why Are Jews Liberals?” for a deeper understanding.

A word from Canada. Here the Jewish community is proud to have Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, head of a majority government, who speaks up for Israel at every turn, even when he stands alone, and even when he publicly stands up against President Obama. As a Canadian Jew, I am shocked at American Jewish support for the Democratic Party at all costs;I attribute part of that self-defeating response to assimilation and a watered-down understanding of Jewish values. Also, it seems that 5% of American Jews are either Holocaust survivors or descendants of Holocaust survivors; 35% of Canadian Jews fit those categories. That makes a difference as well.

I guess that’s the way I’ve always interpreted it. American Jew support for Israel seems to be predicated on their faithfulness. In my experience, practicing Jews supported Israel, non-practicing did not. It’s kind of disgusting actually, much like people use the term “Christian” to entail the ‘Other’ category in terms of religious faith. How can one call themselves Jewish or Christian when they have never attended service? Yet these same people gladly call upon religious faith to legitimize their actions, whether their references are accurate or not (usually not).

Jews aren’t just a religious group like Christians and Muslims, but an ethnoreligious group. We were considered a nation throughout history. “The Jewish people” doesn’t mean “the Jewish persons”, but it’s people in the sense of a nation like the Spanish people, the Dutch people, the Chinese people. The word Jew literally means Judean, a person from Judea. Judaism means the religion of Judea and of the Jews (more accurately it should be decribed as Israelite). So the term “Judaism” was derived from the name of the nation and not vise-versa. Unlike Christian Jews have an ancestral homeland, a language, an alphabet, folk songs (without religious content) and other chracteristics of a nation. Jewish definitions are different from modern European definitions because they were conceived in the ancient east and not in Europe in the 18th century. A Jew is either a physical or a spiritual descendant of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, i.e. a person born to Jewish parents or a convert to the religion of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. A convert to Judaism becomes part of the Jewish people like a born Jew and her children will be considered Jews by birth. That’s how it’s been throughout the millennia.

I’m an atheist Jew. If you find that confusing you can call me an atheist Hebrew, OK? But my indentity cannot be erased.

According to Einstein, repeating the same behavior and expecting different resultsis the definition of insanity. “Wanting to beleive” is nothing more than a limp, lousy excuse. Those who would trade Liberty for security indeed deserve neither. I hope that US leftist Jews remember this when their actions come home to roost. I have no idea what they will say to their children and grandchildren… Jeez…

In a poll taken when Obama was elected a majority of Israelis said they thought he’s a nice person, but a one digit percentage said they thought he’s pro-Israel. Israeli Jews knew from the start he’s not a friend. I wonder if the poll was taken today how many Israeli Jews still think he’s even a nice person. Some nickname him The Pharaoh. But when I visited a Reform Jewish blog I was shocked to see one of the participants said before the elections that the Israelis support Obama. I have no idea if she was a lying Obama fan or was she really that clueless. I think these American lefty Jews, if they know anyone in Israel at all, it’s leftists like them, so they only get the point of view of Israeli leftists. Maybe her Israeli lefty friends supported Obama and she thought they represent the majority of Israelis.

The people in that blog seem to only get reports from a couple of people from a Reform organization in Israel. I don’t see they get anyone else’s PoV, like people in the street or anyone with a different ideology from their own. They didn’t even publish most of my comments there. These people don’t know anything about the Muslim Brotherhood for instance, and I couldn’t post a link to Hamas charter, they wouldn’t publish my comment. When there was a post about the revolution in Egypt it had a comment saying it’s not their business and they should concentrate on everything that’s wrong with Israel. So they can’t see Israel in any realistic context of existing in a certain environment whose culture isn’t exactly Scandinavian, and that is ripe with antisemitism. They treat Israel as if it was some kind of an island, as if we can simply do whatever we want, independently from anything happening around us. They were unable to grasp the implications of a revolution in Egypt for Israel. When riots began in Egypt the first thing every Israeli was thinking is will the peace agreement survive that, but the people in this forum – it didn’t even cross their minds that a revolution next door might have any serious effect at all on Israel.

I don’t mean they represent all Reform Jews. I know one rabbi in the Reform leadership is doing more than most churches to warn about the future of Christians in the Middle East. But what I’m suggesting is that many American leftist Jews really are clueless. They don’t get the information, and the conditions in the US are so different that they can’t understand the first thing about living in such a harsh neighborhood as the Middle East. It’s like some Beverly Hills teenage nerds who believe they can give useful advise to people living in Harlem.

>There were a lot of Jews who could have left Germany after Hitler came to power. They are the psychological ancestors of the Jews who support Obama. Not that he is Hitler but the thinking is similar.

The Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, when most western countries severely limited the numbers of refugees and immigrants. It makes no sense to compare the psychology of German Jews in the 1930s with that of Jews in the US today who support Obama. Just to be clear, many Jewish-American voters do not support Obama.

Well, it’s politically incorrect to say this, and it will sound harsh, but…it’s always amazed me that it seems – at times at least and certainly in the voting booth every 4 years – that if there is one group in the world who hates Israel and Israelis more than Palestinians/radical Muslims do then it has to be liberal American Jews. I can’t even begin to fathom the twists and turns their brains must have to go through to be able to think like that, but the way they vote and contribute to political campaigns surely indicates that that is how they feel.

Too bad Fox News is too busy doing the Anthony family trial almost 24/7 to cover Perry’s letter and discuss what it covers — and thereby reach their vast audience who might also write to Holder and Congress. Every one of their shows ought to cover it.

Of course, Holder will ignore Perry’s letter — That Obama is “for” the Flotilla is obvious — he must be “proud” of the use of the title of his book (as he’s looking forward to going down in history as the man who brought down Israel) or he’d object to its use.

Imagine, if we lived in a normal world — had a normal press — what a great story and headline …. “Flotilla Ship Provoking Violent Incident with American Ally Is American and Named After President’s Book Title — President Has No Objections To It!” (And the “Rule of Law” Hypocrite once again refuses to enforce the law of the land.)
—–

Perry seems impressive in many ways.

I’d like to know more about him and where he stands on all the other vital issues facing us.

Sunk, yes, but I will not stand by and let hyperbole take over a serious debate. Let ‘em all pile in the life boats and row to Haifa or Ashkelon or even Gaza, but I will not wish for the death of Americans who simply are stupid and/or blind.

Perry’s books tell a lot about him and his views. The 2008 book about the Boy Scouts gives his background and the proceeds were donated to the legal defense fund of the scouts, who are constantly assailed by the ACLU trying to force gay scoutmasters on them. The scouts counter with ‘we are a private organization and our activities are free of any kind of sex.” So far, the scouts have won all cases, but the costs of defense have been tremendous. Perry is an Eagle Scout. His book, “Fed Up” gives his political view of small limited government. Leftists in Texas hate him and the Texas media are leftist without exception, so there is a lot of dis-information on him out there.

emmaliza, Perry sounds like a good guy! His book is on my list. Anyone who fights for the rights of children to be allowed to assemble without being subjected to manipulation by adults mired in a perverted lifestyle deserves to be looked at for leadership.

Yeah, we’re scared of getting killed for being the “other”. Some of us have adopted trying to be as much like the general population as possible in order to survive.
Since this targeting Jew thing has been going on for a couple thousand years, maybe it is in our DNA by now. We’d like to keep living just like the rest of you, understandable or not.

If they stand up and defend their rights to simply BE, and exist as a Jewish culture, they are damned as agitators… an irritant, an unnecisarry provocateur of “hostility”.

If they assimilate to avoid being “the other”, they end up supporting the radical left that (knowingly or unknowingly, I’m being generous) enables their enemies.

There seems to be no way to win.

And perhaps THAT is Gods plan…to test their mettle…

Rather like the way a Drill Instructor sometimes demands the physically impossible from his recruits.
Just to see how tough they are, how far they will go,
and how they respond to the stress of facing “the impossible”.

Perhaps God is asking:
Can you face unjustified hatred and intolerance without losing your humanity?
For how long? What will you do to escape?
Is there enough Love in the human heart REALLY to overcome such hatred?
Is Violence ever justified?
Can you employ it and still be faithful to me?
Can human laws, interactions, compromises, trusts, defenses, theories practices and principals ever succeed in bringing about a Real Peace among man?

Clearly, there is right and wrong in this world, with Muslim attitudes and atrocities currently representing the fullest depth of human evil….

So perhaps “the test” of the better aspirations of human soul simply continue.

Exactly. And what is even more insidious, is that Jews remain loyal to a political ideology that is determined to enable a second holocaust. In order to keep their left liberal credentials, they are required to sell out their fellow Jews. Keeping up this delusion is going to become increasingly difficult, especially since some American Jews are waking up and publicly and loudly calling them on it. The future is going to be very interesting.

I think the longer he keeps doing “presidential things” without announcing that he’s a candidate, the more he hurts any chance he may have in November.

If he is a small government conservative, many of his actions as governor don’t bear it out– I understand that, in a federal system, you can believe in a strong, intrusive state government and a small, limited federal government, but I doubt that usually works out in practice. (And cutting taxes does not automatically equal conservatism, before anyone points that out.)

I also find it odd that his book came out only after, what, 30 years in public office? And it comes out right after the ascendancy of the Tea Party? I mean, there are coicidences, and then there are politicians. Perry– to me– is a politician first, conservative (a distant) second.

Don’t get me wrong, if he’s the nominee, I’ll vote for him– as a famous radio talk show host has said, I’ll vote for Elmer Fudd if he’s the nominee– but I hope Perry hires good conservatives to run the show and that he doesn’t let his press releases about himself bloat his head.

Hopefully he is not holding his breath waiting for an answer. These however can be added to the long list of laws that Holder has failed to enforce or selectively enforced when the “impeachment” word comes up. Once those rumblings begin Obama will throw Holder under the bus in a nanosecond prior to the election. Holder is not a sympathetic figure any more than Jamie Gorelick would be.

I’m pretty sure Mr Perry’s not holding his breath waiting for anything from Mr Obama. Remember, Perry’s been asking since mid-April for federal disaster relief for the wildfires that have now destroyed over 3 MILLION acres of Texas. And we’re still in a drought, and Texas is still burning. But he keeps asking.

What is really interesting is that the Obama administration is doing NOTHING to stop the flotilla or trying to avoid a potentially deadly confrontation with the Israeli Navy. Is Obama supporting the flotilla, or does it just want to avoid any responsibility so that the Israelis can handle it? I think it’s a little of both. The Palestinian-lovers in the administration, like Susan Rice, probably support the flotilla and are not lifting a finger to stop it, hoping that the Israelis start another incident that will simply make Israel look bad. Well, Israel’s reputation in the arab world can’t get any worse than it is, so Israel should take any measures it sees fit to stop the boats, including sinking them if necessary. As for those useful idiot journalists that want to be on the boats, well, I’m sure they’ll get some amazing video as the ships are going down and they have to jump into the water. Should do “wonders” for their ratings, especially in the arab world. Anti-Semitic Traitors.

I have followed Gov. Perry for five years now (not literally I mean his work as governor) and I can tell you that he has genuine concern for Isreal. Now, as of now I really don’t know if he’s running for president. If you asked me even two or three weeks ago I would have told you that he has zero intention of being president, now I’m not so sure. It’s kinda 50:50 shot in my opinion if he’ll get in. I do not want him to leave Texas!! But I do know he’d be the best president.
It was only a few years ago (when he had zero desire to be president) that he received the Defender of Jerusalem Award from PM Netanyahu, so this here is his genuine cconcern for Isreal.

Whatever else Perry’s letter does or doesn’t accomplish, it drags Obama and his administration squarely into the flotilla discussion and this is very important.

Very shortly, Obama will be tut tutting Israel for her various human rights violations in stopping unarmed vessels in international waters. (Zionazi piracy on the high seas!) Perry’s letter involves Obama earlier and belies his pose of impartiality and support for Israel’s survival. It also defines Obama’s position for Jews who have their heads deep in the sand and need further demonstration of Obama’s enmity of the Jewish State.

Samizdat – First of all your statement that “conservatives have always been the strongest allies of Israel in US politics while American Jewish voters have, since Israel’s foundation, always overwhelmingly supported liberals” is absurd. Most of the worst Jew and Israel hating historically came from the right…Nixon, James Baker, Bush I, and the left or liberal world – including France once upon a time championed Israel. Don’t forget Reagan visited Bitburg (grave yard for the SS soldiers) in the face of Eli Wiesel telling Reagan “Don’t do it”. And Reagan condemned Israel when we bombed Sadam’s nuclear bomb making plant. And Reagan turned and tucked tail when Hizballah murdered hundreds of Marines while they were sleeping in their barracks. And Reagan was the best of the best of them.

Meanwhile, Martin Luther King Jr. loved Israel. Historically the most vocal and ardent supporters of Israel were from the moderate or political centrist left.

I can appreciate the complaints about the Jewish left in America today – I too find myself deeply frustrated by their blind allegiance to stooges like Obama and his Stated Department Jewboys Daniel Kurtzer and Dennis Ross – that makes my stomach turn.

That said Jews deserve MASSIVE KUDOS on the world stage as Israel and JEWISH soldiers are the ones fighting and dieing on the front lines – like no other in the world – against the IslamoNazism. We have been and continue to be creating better fighting techniques, weaponry, and the supplying the human power to fight the darkest force on the planet like no other. So thank you Gov Perry for recognizing this fact if many other American Jews are so damn spoiled by the luxuries of life in America that they are willing to inadvertently commit suicidal ideas of “peace”. The peace process in this sense is this generation’s Golden Calf…

And as much as I too cannot stand the Jewish support of Jew-haters like Obama, I respect and have pride in the FACT that the Jewish people are not monolithic thinkers in lock step in almost anything. That Jewish fools worship a Golden Calf is no surprise – painful but predictable. But these fools only make the Jewish Warriors fighting tyranny on the front lines of the battle of our times all the more admirable and amazing!

Adam,
Nixon strongly supported Israel during the Yom Kipur war in the fall of 1973. Nixon made certain that Israel had TOW and Pheonix missiles in its arsenal when the war broke out and had those munitions, the most sophisticated in our inventory at the time, flown to the conflict by US airforce cargo transport. GWB was a strong supporter of Israel, maybe the strongest. Bush 1 in Desert storm permanently damaged Sadam Hussien’s ability to threaten Israel by destroying an enormous quantity of Iraq’s military hardware, including most of it’s airforce. None of these president’s acted against Israeli interests. As for Reagan, he was wrong to condemn the bombing of the Iraq nuclear reactor and he should have destroyed Hizbullah after the Marine barracks attack, but he was otherwise a powerful friend of Israel.

The only Presidents who consistently acted against Israel were both Democrats, Carter and Obama.

Reagan’s condemnation was rather pro-forma, in response to pressure from many of his advisers, even those like Haig normally very supportive of Israel. But even the suspension of F-16 deliveries that resulted only lasted a few months before being quietly lifted. Roger Claire, author of “Raid on the Sun” – perhaps the best book on the raid (and one begging to be made into a movie) – quotes Reagan’s review of post-attack satellite imagery with the entire complex intact except for the “gaping hole” left of the reactor. “Okay, yeah, yeah I see,” the President said. “But what a terrific piece of bombing!”

Perry is an ally of Gov. Palin. He is holding off any announcement on running until Sarah announces her decision. If Sarah runs, he won’t. If Sarah decides not to run, he will. If he announces that he is running and then Sarah does the same, Perry would probably drop out. And announcing and then dropping out would weaken him, politically, at home in Texas.

If Sarah runs he’ll be her biggest supporter, except for Todd. And would probably be in her cabinet. Perhaps as Sec. Interior.

the jews that support the democrats, obviously, have no ties anymore with Israel, meaning that there is no more family in Israel, therefore, no ties and completely assimilated into the American culture.

the other jews that do care about Israel still have family ties in the country and therefore stand with Israel and who supports her.

truly amusing to hear everyone fighting over a very small country and people. Israel is GOD’s chosen country and man will never destroy it. GOD will not be mocked!

“…the jews that support the democrats, obviously, have no ties anymore with Israel, meaning that there is no more family in Israel, therefore, no ties and completely assimilated into the American culture…”

Don’t believe it. The minority of Jews regularly voting Republican are openly confronting threats to Jews, including the great mass of Jews in the Jewish State. The Jewish majority are trying to duck the threats by losing themselves in the liberal masses who,either for cowardice and sloth or by intent threaten Jews.

More liberal Jews are finding out every day that they can’t hide any longer. And they can’t sleep. Those old retired Jews in Florida Debbie Wasserman Schultz counts on to vote for Obama have plenty of time to read the paper and watch the news on television and see what’s going on with all the hollering and complaining about this Obama fella and Israel and that he doesn’t like Jews. Such a nice looking, nice talking negro fella, too, like that Senator Reed said.
I voted for this Obama once, I don’t have to show I’m not prejudiced no more. Let’s see what the Republicans got to offer.

“More liberal Jews are finding out every day that they can’t hide any longer. And they can’t sleep.” Yes, Yes, Yes! And, as you perceptively noted, frequently they are older. Curiously, it is middle aged Jews, in their 40′s and 50′s, who are having a hard time facing reality. Older people are proving to be more intellectually independent and better able to face change when it comes.

Jews throughout history have supported leftist big gov idealogies, and then been shocked when that big gov turns on them. Why do leftist jews oppose gun rights, when they should be getting guns for themselves for defense against anti semites. Why do they support leftists that support affirmative action and diversity quotas, which are then used to deny Jews advancement in education, business, and gov, because they are TOO successful. Why do they support leftists that strangle small business with taxes and regulation, when so many Jews are small business owners. Why do they support leftists that hate Israel, and support those that wish to destroy it. This desire to support people who wish to oppress and destroy them almost seems like a death wish on their part. Almost like the jews that would help the gov officials find other jews for the latest pogram, in exchange for the gov not selecting them and their family.

Please tell me “identification with the aggressor” isn’t also part of Jewish dna by now. Like so many commenters here, I have long pondered the enigma of Jews who are Democrat (and of course, Blacks as well). Of course I have no answer, just many random thoughts. One is about what I have observed to be an at times almost overwhelming sense of free-floating guilt that *does* seem to plague many Jewish people I have known, and it seems to work its way to the surface in what I unglamorously dub underdog-itis. It’s as though, having been subjected to centuries of persecution, in the final analysis they are simply incapable of not repetitively giving the benefit of the doubt or a free pass to those whom they see as “unfairly” disadvantaged, all logic and critical thinking to the contrary. They would simply be too ashamed not to. And what I’d describe as an elevated susceptibility to shame seems to stem from the phenomenon that at some heartbreakingly deep level, they have unconsciously bought at least some part of the world’s inexplicable hatred against them as being somehow deserved, and therefore in need of being expiated, which they then do by clinging to these literally suicidal political positions. I have known only two conservative Jews, and of course felt an immediate affinity, even greater than the one I feel almost universally toward all the Jews I know, regardless of their politics, which I think has much to do with what I define as greater emotional accessibility, making their temperaments far more congenial to mine than that of most WASPS I have encountered. In any case none of these friends, be they conservative or liberal, has ever provided a satisfactory answer to this puzzling question beyond a mute, visceral shrug of the shoulders, accompanied by what has always seemed to me to be an exquisite sense of deep discomfort. I guess that’s what makes the Israeli’s so special to me. Whatever this is, they’ve broken free of it, and on can only rejoice. Sorry for the psychobabble, but I’m convinced this all goes very deep.

Holder will, of course, do nothing, just as he did nothing against the Black Panthers in Philadelphia. Holder will not rattle the Code Pink, leftist, J-Street base. As for leftist Jews who openly support Israel’s enemies, the Jewish community needs an “intellectual” civil war and maybe a group of rabbis who have the courage to excommunicate these traitors.

I have to say that I still don’t get how people can hate someone so much that they actually announce that they will eliminate them. I can’t get my small brain around it. I only started seeing these things on Glenn Beck’s program. It’s crazy! Now, I can’t stop thinking, why?

I guess you can count your lucky stars that you aren’t muslim. It is a cult – not a religion although the ‘front’ is proclaimed as being religious. Cult followers are typically brainwashed into believing certain facts – even if those facts fly in the face of reason.

Texas, Israel’s fourth-largest American trading partner, has built a strong
economic relationship with Israel, especially within the agriculture and natural resource industries. During a visit in 2007, Gov. Perry helped launch the Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce was created to help launch future commercial interests and solidify the strong business and cultural connections between the two states. http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/13440/

A liberal Jew is above all a leftist; being Jewish doesn’t mean a thing. Like all leftists–which include ALL liberals, progressives, greens, environmentalists, feminists, social justice types, UN lovers, PC supporters, multiculturalists, antiwar activists, PETA members, One-worlders, and Democrats–they only care about absolutely one thing: the advancement of worldwide Socialism/Marxism/Communism. That is their ONLY religion.

the jews who support president bongo are jinos which are like rinos and their only allegiance is to communism like the rosenberg traitors.jinos will betray america and israel every chance they get,so will bongo and all of the national socialist democratic workers party.i hope these ships are packed full of code pink rug munchers,american commies and ragheads when israel sinks them.this will be just the excuse that the ragheads need to attack israel who will then nuke the muzzie scum.good riddance to pisslam.

Good article Roger, and lots of good comments posted too.
I can’t help but wonder if Israel was destroyed, would American Jews feel any remorse for inaction? Would they ever consider that maybe they would be focused(Targeted) on next?
Israel is a great friend to the US and I hope it will survive past November 2012.
Can anyone speak about how Israelis feel about American Jews indifference to Israel?

I am a Jew in Texas, but originally from the Northeast. I am politically conservative. But, of course I know many liberal Jews. I can honestly tell you that I don’t know any Jews who are not pro-Israel. I think the liberal Jews are just naive about policy. They also think that since Hitler was characterized as being on the right, they must support the left.

Pretty much everybody associates Nazi with right-wing, just like they associate lemmings with blindly following the masses and jumping off a cliff.

Lemmings’ migratory path takes them alongside cliffs. The great numbers of the migration make it inevitable that some will be forced off the cliff by the surrounding mass. Walt Disney propagated the false idea by filming a mass of lemmings on a record turntable and recorded them “leaping” away, to their death we are told and a false myth is born. http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lemmings.asp

In the same misleading fashion, Nazi’s are called right-wing. Perhaps that was true for THEIR political situation, but it is unrelated to our politics. What I do know is that Nazi was the popular English name for the German National SOCIALIST Worker’s Party and that sounds exactly like a good self-definition of the Democratic party. It definitely has more in common with Democrats/liberals than anything the Republicans/conservatives stand for. It’s Democrats who perpetuate the welfare state which keeps people poor and enslaved to whomever controls the welfare dollars. It’s Democrats who initiated Jim Crow laws and enforced segregation and created the KKK. It’s Democrats who support the abortion programs (Planned Parenthood) of Margaret Sanger, who only wanted a convenient way to cull what she considered the sub-human races from the population by murdering innocent creations of God while they are most helpless in the womb. Not sure how someone who subscribes to Democratic ideals could ever be considered a mensch or worthy of emulation.

I think that many many American Jews–like way too many American Christians–have no faith or do not practice their faith, another damnable result of the Leftist movement in our country to destroy all the things which originally made us strong and moral.

Each time this subject of liberal Jews seemingly having abandoned Israel I am a bit puzzled. I’m mostly German by ancestry – but 100% American by birth and loyalty. I have no ties to Germany – and feel no obligation to them whatever may befall them other than whatever help or sympathy seems appropriate for the occasion. Could it be that they too have lost their empathy for their ancestral homeland?

Why is it we cannot just accept the fact that these liberal American Jews feel about the same as any generic American liberal? This seems unlikely to change as far as I can see. They are solidly in the Democrat corner – leave them to their misery I say.

Perry’s support of Israel comes as no surprise. Noted historian T. R. Fehrenbach has commented on the instinctive bond between Texas and Israel.

Same writer has also commented on “survivor types”. Those who keep breathing a little longer by bugging out when they are most needed and/or make a career
of betraying those nearest to them and who have helped them in their hour of need. Moses Rose—–the man who left the Alamo—– and George Soros both fit the profile. Perry and Netanyahu are both the opposite.

Jewish history has resulted in a larger-than-normal percentage of Jews becoming “survivor types”. (Robert Heinlein referred to them as “reform politicians”.) These tend to be skilled manipulators and to get others to follow their lead. Hence a lot of Jews cling to the Democrats or others who wish Israel harm. Their control of the American Jewish body politic remains significant but is fortunately waning.

Our enemies no longer wish the physical destruction of Israel, although they will try to arrange it if there is nothing else they can do. The reason is that were Israel to be nuked to a cinder, American could still pull through. However were Israel to capitulate, why that means the rot is so pervasive that the USA is doomed and so is Western Civilization.

Sensing this, Rick Perry has “answered with a shell and a rousing Rebel Yell”.
He will do, thank you very much.

Folks, as much as Perry supports Israel, his Presidential candidacy could be a diaster for Israel and the Jews. Here’s how:

a) Perry runs and gets the nomination.
b) In a tight race, Perry narrowly loses the Presidency due to blatant ballot stuffing and illegal voters in Ohio and Florida.
c) Refusing to accept the results, Perry and the (now GOP-controlled) Congress, refuse to recognize him as President.
d) Obama declares martial law and a state of emergency, rounding up Republicans – with the blessing of his lapdogs in the leftist media.
e) Perry (along with Governors Jindal and Barbour) start a secessionist movement. The leftist media, along with the International leftist elite, brand it as a new Confederacy and a racist state alongside Israel.
f) Obama orders troops to put down the secessionist movement. Black and (most of the) Hispanic soldiers obey, white soldiers refuse, and soon, there is a race war within the military, leading to an all-out civil war across the country.
g) With the USA consumed in a civil war, a (now) nuclear Iran sees its chance to inflict a second Holocaust and nukes Israel, not caring that 20, 30 or 40 Israeli nukes will obliterate their cities.

Does the end seem far-fetched. Well, then ask yourself: Is (a) far-fetched? No.

If (a) occurs, then is (b) far-fetched? Not only is the answer “No”, it is very likely.

Then ask yourself about each step: If you assume one step is possible, then is the next step a logical outcome of it?

“There can be no excuse for permitting Americans to involve the US flag in this. There is no “order” in the maritime environment without the exercise of authority by someone functioning, in essence, as a territorial sheriff. But the good news is that the enforcement of such order properly extends to preventing disorderly and escalatory acts by those operating under national flags. Individual governments are the highest authority, and in maritime terms, the US is chief among them. The Obama administration’s public passivity regarding the Americans in the flotilla and their US-flagged ship sends a significant and destructive signal about our posture on maritime order. It says we don’t care about it.”